May Catalog Outtakes

Sometimes you get your Los Angeles creative director hand-delivering beautiful images to Philly, from one of your favorite photographers and you get to put the beautiful printouts of 35mm film together and make a book from the efforts of all the talents involved. Shot by Graham Dunn in Hawaii, this book leads you through a tropical greenery backdrop with pops of turquoise that provided much of the inspiration for the the design of the book. Although I wasn’t there, having the images was enough to feel inspired and want more. I asked Graham about his experience and some of his favorite outtakes and he did not disappoint. Take a look at some of our favorite behind the scenes catalog images and Grahams thoughts below.

Driving north from the airport in Honolulu, we were all struck by colorful buildings just nestled amongst what seemed like a massive, ancient jungle and clifflike mountains—nature was definitely allowing humans to live there and not vice-versa like LA sometimes feels. We were immediately immersed in a new world.

We were on California time and the first morning I woke up early and climbed over the rock wall in front of our house to watch the sun rise on the beach. Marine made her way out, too and we just stood there basically in silence as the sun peeked out in pastel colors directly over the horizon of water in front of us. We knew we had to try to relay some of those serene moments as best as possible the next morning for the catalog.

While we were there that few days, huge waves were predicted and it was supposed to be the first “Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau” surf contest in years—an invite-only big wave competition. There was a buzz in the air, even more so because we were also shooting with pro surfers like Noa Ginella.

Ehukai Rash Guard, Chasing Shadows Straw Baseball Hat
I chose to shoot mostly film for this catalog. Our brains store memories in a human and basically unreliable way; we remember feelings and not facts which is why a smell can take us back to childhood in an instant. I feel like film is closest to memories, it reads light like our eyes do. You’re purely in that moment without digital screens or over-thinking. There’s a hint of grain and warmth—an organic naturalness to it all that seems right for conveying a dream trip with a group of friends and hopefully taking Free People readers there with us.

This was an awesome post !!! absolutely love the creativity of your team :) and what you said about shooting with film is so true ! I definitely love how raw and “memory” filled film photos are. I love the feeling of looking at your developed for the first time :) x